Silver and Gold: U2’s Rattle and Hum at 35
Reflecting on the Irish band’s polarizing double album
The release of Rattle and Hum on October 10, 1988 was considered a highly ambitious undertaking, even for a band whose previous albums had clearly bolstered their claim to superstardom.
A sweeping epoch in both concept and creation, the double LP boasted both live and studio material, the latter of which found them collaborating with such renown musical masters and mainstays as Bob Dylan and B.B. King. As a result, many critics found it not only an auspicious undertaking, but a somewhat presumptuous endeavor as well, given the fact that U2 seemed intent on immersing themselves in the vintage environs that had been heretofore reserved for indelible American icons.
VIDEO: U2 “Angel of Harlem”
Originally intended as the soundtrack for a belated documentary detailing the band’s tour in support of The Joshua Tree, it remains, in retrospect, a commendable collection of songs, one that lives up to its high expectations as well as its arched ambitions. The band’s storied standing had already been assured, but given the anthemic nature of the majority of its entries, the attempt at confirming that status was clearly considered. While there’s no denying a certain presumption, pretension and, it might be said, self-importance, the results have still stood the test of time.
Likewise, the group took great pains to affirm their prominent placement, revisiting some of their more sterling songs — “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” (from The Joshua Tree and replayed here with The New Voices of Freedom gospel choir), “Pride (In the Name of Love)” (culled from The Unforgettable Fire) and “Bullet the Blue Sky” (also culled from The Joshua Tree album) — all of which stand out as among U2’s more stirring entries. The band brought the bar even higher by also covering some well-worn standards, courtesy of an exceptionally agitated take on “Helter Skelter” recorded live in Denver and described by Bono in his introduction as “a song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles,” “All Along the Watchtower” from the so-called “Yuppie Free Concert” in San Francisco, and a snippet of Jimi Hendrix’s landmark take on “The Star Spangled Banner” immortalized at Woodstock.
VIDEO: U2 “Desire”
Not that the band showed any willingness to rest on earlier accomplishments. The rumbling “Desire” became a staple of their live sets in the 90s. A song as riveting and resonant as the title implied, it climbed to Number Three on the Billboard’s Top 100 and garnered the group a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. So too, the stirring “Angel of Harlem,” intended as an homage to Billie Holiday, and the decidedly demonstrative “When Love Comes To Town,” a duet with B.B. King — recorded in the iconic Sun Studios no less — rank among the band’s best efforts overall. And what more can be said about the album’s devastatingly beautiful closing number “All I Want Is You” than its ability to pierce your heart every time it comes through the speakers.
VIDEO: U2 “All I Want Is You”
Naturally, ambition often leads to overreach, and both the studio offerings and live material were subject to frequent tampering, initial attempts that were discarded due to dissatisfaction, and entire revisions. There was certainly some overconfidence inherent overall, because, perhaps, their earlier concert outings (specifically, the Live at Red Rocks album from four years before, and the Wide Awake In America EP released the year after) had served them so well. Inevitably though, that mixture of material taken from such disparate sources also served to suggest the album lacked focus, a frequent excuse for the critics to reap their scorn.
VIDEO: U2 feat. B.B. King “When Love Comes To Town”
In retrospective however, the album still stands up among the band’s best, and the fact that it reached number one in the U.S., the U.K. and most countries around the world proved the band had both the power and prowess to make an emphatic impression.
Some 35 years later, it can considered an impressive accomplishment. Suffice it to say, the rattle and hum of this era of U2 still resonates and reverberates to this day.
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